Get documents about "Bethel Bulletin October 2008 - Greenville County Schools Online
Document Sample
Bethel Bulletin Bethel Elementary PTA Newsletter October 2008 Volume 14, Issue 2 Fall is a “Golden” Time of Year As the cool weather sets in, and the leaves begin to change, PTA is working hard to make a difference in our students’ lives at Bethel. We have had a fantastic first quarter with many successes to share with you. Robin Alexander and Jean Munson have “wrapped up” our largest fundraiser of the fall, our Sally Foster gift wrap sale and our Entertainment coupon book sale is underway. This is a savings book for many upstate restaurants, shopping, and family fun events. Our first Chick-fil-A biscuit sale was a huge hit, selling out, despite the stormy weather. We will be increasing our biscuit order in October to meet demands. Market Day orders increased over last fall, and we are pleased that more families are taking advantage of this convenience. Original Art volunteers are busy preparing student artwork to send home. Look for more detailed updates on these fundraisers throughout this newsletter. We have also been very busy getting many of our PTA programs up and running. SEEDS and Sunshine Math are well underway. Lunch relief volunteers have completed training. The teachers really appreciate this break in their busy days. Red Ribbon Week plans have wrapped up and the Reflections Contest is gearing up for a strong turnout! Bethel students have had opportunities for after school socializing and fun at Pump It Up and the Bethel School Dance. A big thank you goes out to Melissa Hudson and Gina Burton, our VP’s of Volunteers for compiling our huge database of volunteers. They have worked hard to organize and staff Book Fair, Picture Day, and Ident-A-Kid events at school. We encourage everyone to get involved at Bethel. There are so many opportunities to give of your time and talents. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next PTA General Board th .Meeting on Monday, December 8 at 6:30 p.m. Our outstanding chorus will perform immediately following the meeting. Although this is a busy and hectic time of year, please take the opportunity to visit Bethel and view the wonderful work displayed throughout the school. Student learning is evident as we see the writing, math, science, and social studies displayed in the halls. Bethel teachers are working very hard to help our students achieve. Thank you for all your efforts to support Bethel’s PTA. Warmest regards, Cindy Roxburgh Mary Margaret Knight PTA Co-Presidents Bethel Elementary School 111 Bethel School Road Simpsonville, SC 29681 864-355-4100 www.greenville,k12.sc.us/bethel Mrs. Brenda Byrd, Principal bbyrd@greenville.k12.sc.us Dana Ulmer, Bethel Bulletin Editor ulmers5@charter.net 2008 - 2009 Bethel Elementary School PTA Board Cindy Roxburgh, Co-President mrox@charter.net Mary Margaret Knight, Co-President mmeknight@charter.net Melissa Pereyo, Secretary mikepereyo@yahoo.com Sandy Meister, Treasurer smeister@ebankfirstnational.com Lisa George, VP Ways & Means scgeorges@charter.net Kristen Ambrose, VP Programs rka517@bellsouth.net Angie Schemm, VP Services aschemm@charter.net Gina Burton, Co-VP Volunteers gina468@yahoo.com Melissa Hudson, Co-VP Volunteers scbuckeyes@msn.com Amy DiPalma, Co-Historian dipalmasc@bellsouth.net Wendy Pavia, Co-Historian gageesgirls@aol.com Dawn Lynch, Parliamentarian lynch792@charter.net Amy Cowley, Hospitality amycowley@charter.net Sally Foster A Success Bethel was quite successful with the Sally Foster sale this year. We raised about $24,000.00 that will go into the PTA budget and help purchase needed supplies and equipment for our school! Ashton Case, from Mrs. Luneau’s class, was our top seller this year and she won an iPod from Sally Foster. Great job, Ashton! The PTA also donated an iPod that was raffled off. All names of participants were included in the drawing and the lucky winner was Jake Mauritz from Mrs. Edlin’s class. Class winners for participation include: KindergartenMrs. Smith, 1st- Mrs. Stephen, 2nd-Tie with Mrs. Newton/Mrs. Burdette and Mrs. Jenny, 3rd Tie with Mrs. Fairbanks and Mr. King, 4th Mrs. Rodgers, Mrs. Sutton, IMA, and 5th-Mrs. Edlin. Overall, we had more than 400 students participate in the sale this year. Way to go Bethel!!! Sock It To Drugs! Red Ribbon Week is a Hit! Bethel students celebrated Red Ribbon Week October 21st-24th. Bethel’s theme for the 2008-2009 school year was “Be An All-Star--Sock It To Drugs!” Students enjoyed many activities throughout the week including silly sock day, Red Ribbon poster contest, writing drug free messages to be inserted in Papa John’s Pizza boxes, wearing sports jerseys, and learning about making healthy choices. Fifth graders participated in a Red Ribbon Rally at the school with a parade, a demonstration by Master Kim’s Tae Kwon Do school, and a banner and door decorating contest! Don’t forget to take your red ribbon to Jersey Mike’s on Woodruff Road for a free kid’s Mini Sub Meal. A big thank you goes out to Norma Sewell for organizing our red Ribbon Week activities. SIC The SIC meets the third Thursday of every month. The committee’s role is to address and oversee issues that affect the entire school population. The SIC is comprised of elected parents and teachers, appointed community members and members of the school administration. The 2008-2009 SIC Committee welcomes new parent members Debbie Watson and Lisa George and new community members Jill Blume and Dominick DiPalma. This year we are very excited about two new subcommittees, the Bethel Friends of the Playground and the Mentoring team. The SIC identified these two key areas of concern for this year. The Friends of the Playground is working on creative ways to raise funds to replace the older playground equipment for the upper grades. The mentoring team is investigating ways to establish National PTA a mentoring program to help provide our younger NPTA 541 N. Fairbanks Ct. Chicago, IL 60611-3396 students with the best foundation possible. The SIC Phone: 1-312-670-6782 or 1-800-307-4782 meetings are open to any member of our school www.pta.org or info@pta.org community. Bethel's SIC has established a Friends of the Playground fund to purchase new playground South Carolina PTA equipment at Bethel. This effort is a commitment 1826 St. Columbia, SC 29201 to increasing physical activity of our students Phone: 803-765-0806 or 1-800-743-3782 as well as promoting positive social behavior, better www.scpta.org or office@scpta.org cardiovascular health, increased strength and coordination and pure enjoyment. Supporters of this fund will be recognized on a plaque as well as school newsletters. Thank you to Ashby Park Pediatric Dentistry for their generous donation. Dear Bethel Family, Now that the school year is well underway, teachers are conducting conferences with all parents. Please make every effort to have a face to face conference with your child’s teacher. Children achieve more when parents and teachers work together in the educational process. We are so grateful for your support! As you may recall, last year our school set goals in the areas of math and science. Our goals were to have an increase of at least 5% of students scoring in the Proficient or Advanced levels on PACT math and science. I am pleased to report that our school met both of these goals! We made a 5.2% gain in math and a 10.2% gain in science. I am very proud of our students and teachers for their hard work! We have now established our student achievement goals for the 2008-2009 school year. Due to our state changing to the new PASS test, our goals this year will be based on MAP testing. After completing a thorough test score analysis, we have established goals in the areas of reading and math. 1. Increase the percentage of students meeting their math MAP target growth goal by 5% from fall 2008 to spring 2009. 2. Increase the percentage of students meeting their reading MAP target growth goal by 5% from fall 2008 to spring 2009. 3. Maintain at least a 96% student attendance rate. The staff and I feel fortunate to serve such a supportive community. We’re here to help if you need us. Feel free to contact us with suggestions, questions, or concerns. Thanks again for all you do! Sincerely, Brenda D. Byrd, Principal Calendar News October October 27 - Milkshake Monday for the Teachers October 29 – Club Day 3rd - 5th grades October 30 - Reports Cards Issued October 30-31 – 4th Grade to Camp Greenville November 4 - Election Day - No School Chick-fil-A Spirit Night November 5 - PTA Board Meeting 12:30 November 5, 10 – PTA Reflections Entries Due November 11-14 - 5th Grade to Washington, DC November 18 - Chick-fil-A Biscuit Sales in Carline $2 November 19 - Market Day Pick Up 2:30 November 20 – SIC 9:00 November 26-28 - Thanksgiving Break 2008-2009 Theme November “WOW” Students may enter as many times as they would like in any of the six categories: Visual Arts, Literature, Musical Composition, Photography, Dance Choreography and Film/Video Presentation. For official rules visit: www.scpta.org. Click on the Reflections logo to view the rules. Contact: Jeannine Streetman, Reflections Chair, with any questions at 967-4612 or email neener923@charter.net, 2008-2009 National PTA Reflections Contest Theme: “WOW” Submit your entry in the cafeteria: Nov 5th or Nov 10th between 7:30 to 8:10. Entries will not be accepted after Nov. 10th. Let’s see some talent come home with the gold! December December 2 – Chick-fil-A Spirit Night December 5 - Crockpot Luncheon for the Teachers December 8 - PTA General Board Meeting 6:30pm December 8-12 - Gingerbread Holiday Shop December 16 - Chick-fil- A biscuit Sales in Carline $2 December 17 - Market Day Pick Up 2:30 December 19 - Classroom Holiday Parties December 20-January 2 - Winter Break, NO SCHOOL! Coach’s Corner This year our school is focusing on Mathematics and Reading for our school-wide goals. I thought I would share some ideas on how you can enrich these areas of learning at home with your children. Reading is an area that you can work with your child in everyday activities. These are some ways to do just that: Be sure that your child is reading every night. Have him/her read to you…read to them…take turns reading. Discuss the books your child is reading with him/her. Play games that involve reading. Be sure that your child completes their language arts homework everyday. Visit the library as often as you can. Read materials that you enjoy in front of your child so they see that you enjoy reading. Mathematics can also be enhanced through our everyday activities: At the grocery store, have your child count the items in the cart, estimate how much your bill will be, talk about and compare the prices or weights of items you are buying. Have your child weigh your fruit or other produce. In the kitchen, have your child help you cook. Have them measure ingredients and help with a new recipe, talk about fractions in food or measurements of ingredients. Talk about your family calendar and the special events on it. Talk about parts of that calendar. Have your child use an analog clock. Talk about times in the future and the amount of time that will pass to get there. Computer programs for math can enrich a child’s learning while having fun playing a game. Math games can be fun. Using dice and adding up or multiplying the thrown numbers, playing War and games that involve the use of money and banking. Here are several sites you can use to practice with your child: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/ (reading) http://www.eduplace.com/kids/mhm/ (math) http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/ (English ) http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsv/ (Working with words) Explore and have fun! Yours in learning, Cindy Stier Instructional Coach 355-4169 or cstier@greenville.k1.sc.us Shopping? Are you doing Halloween shopping this month? While you are at it, help PTA stock up on spray cans of hair paint for the spring carnival. Please send cans to the PTA room. Thank you for supporting the Bethel Bash!
